Negatives of Hazing

On March 6, 2007 on Miami University’s campus, the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta, also known as Fiji, hazed pledging students by dropping them off in the woods in the middle of the night. The pledges had no idea where they were dropped off at or how to get back to campus. As the night went on park rangers eventually found the disoriented students wandering in the woods. This resulted in the fraternity facing a suspension from the university for hazing charges (Milstead). Generally, people do not view hazing as a big deal mainly because stories like this are rarely publicized nationally. With people not truly knowing about the issue, they end up misunderstanding it completely because they do not realize how much harm it can actually cause. Therefore, the question arises, should members of fraternities and sororities on Miami’s campus stop hazing throughout their chapters move towards other alternatives? This will be determined through the examination of the legal implications of hazing, costs to the chapter, effects on the chapter’s reputation, social problems with members, consequences to the hazer, and different options for hazing. Currently, hazing regulations extend across the country as states adopt different laws that involve this issue. According to Ohio state law, “No person shall recklessly participate in the hazing of another” (Fierberg). Since it is considered a state law, any enforcement agency can prosecute a student for being involved in a hazing incident. For this reason, organizations should already avoid hazing completely just because of the chances of legal implications. In addition to Ohio state law, Miami University has their own policies that go more in depth into the law. Miami University describes hazing as any actions by members of a group that are directed towards new individuals that may cause mental or physical harm to that person (“Miami University Hazing Prevention”). It explains that hazing can contribute to physical and mental harm, which describes how broad the negative effects can be. Furthermore, their definition is mainly referring to the fraternities and sororities on campus, as Greek life is predominately known for hazing at Miami. For instance, their policies include the recognition of activities such as alcohol, paddling, creation of excessive fatigue, and psychological shock (“Miami University Hazing Prevention”). These activities listed show the extent of Miami’s hazing policies, which illustrates how important it is to follow their rules, so that negative consequences can be avoided. When fraternities and sororities do not abide by the laws and policies, the costs to the chapter can be devastating. For example, the sorority Delta Delta Delta received a hazing charge that resulted in a two-year suspension from Miami’s campus (Mckerjee). This shows how much risk is involved when a fraternity or sorority hazes. Furthermore, once the chapter is allowed back on campus, they still have to take a lot of time to rebuild their chapter. In addition to suspensions, a chapter can be held liable for injuries or even deaths that result from hazing (“Consider the Issues”). The liability may even involve major lawsuits over the chapter, which usually result in major financial losses. For instance, a 19-year-old student at Cornell University died in a fraternity house due to excessive hazing (Skorton). In this case, the chapter was held completely liable and was forced face many legal implications. Moreover, any prosecution on the chapter can potentially affect alumni and new member support (“Consider the Issues”). With less support, the credibility of the chapter starts to quickly decline. Physical effects to the person being hazed can also affect the chapter’s reputation and accountability. Hazing usually involves binge drinking of alcohol, which most likely occurs during activities like “case races” or “power hours” (“Hazing”). Binge drinking can easily lead to alcohol...

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...Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an "underground" activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these rituals have been injured and subsequently died. This is due to the "hazers" not seeking medical treatment for the victims, for fear that they may be fined or charged by police or campus authorities. One estimate states that at least sixty-five students have died between the years of 1978 and 1996 from beatings and stress inflicted during fraternity initiation rites ("Greek" 26).
Hazing has been defined in the Pennsylvania Hazing Law as "any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical safety of a student or which destroys or removes public or private property for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with, or as a...

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Hazing: Torture or Trustful Bond?
What is hazing? Hazing is often referred to as the humiliating and sometimes dangerous initiation rituals, specifically introduced on college students seeking membership into a fraternity or sorority. Members of fraternities and sororities are not the only victims. Athletic players and students of organizations endure this humiliation as well. Hazing should be prohibited in fraternities, sororities, athletic sports, and any club or organizations due to the physical and psychological effects it has on people. The latest incident was conducted on October 30th, 2013 at Wilmington, Ohio. 19 year old Tyler Lawrence reportedly collapsed in agony after being struck in the groin during a ceremony for the Gamma Phi Gamma fraternity. According to local police, some of the events that occurred were extremely unpleasant.
Lawrence and two other pledges were brought to the basement of the fraternity (Known as the "Gobbler House"). The basement of the house contained about three inches of water and the pledges were ordered to lie on the floor and imitate a swimming action. The pledges were then commanded to strip entirely naked but were instructed to keep their blindfolds on. A substance resembled as that of "Icy Hot" was then applied to their nipples, groin, and buttocks. After having limburger cheese stuffed in their mouths, the pledges were each given a ball of stuffing and...

...Hazing (subjecting newcomers to abusive or humiliating tricks and ridicule) has always been seen as a secretive campus activity when it comes to fraternities and pledging. As a result, Dr. Mark Taff resorted in his article that, "..a series of 168 cases of injuries and deaths related to fraternity hazing activities...[occurred] in the United States between 1923 and 1982" (2113). Young college men are being hospitalized and even worse, dying, just for a couple of friends that give them a sense of belonging. The major causes of hazing are the students' wanting a sense of belonging in a big college campus, the college's infrequent knowledge of what occurs in fraternities, and the unwillingness of fraternities to change tradition. Since hazing has been around for more than a century, one cannot expect the practice of hazing to stop all together. It will probably take years before hazing perishes from the fraternity scene. Nevertheless, until an end is put to hazing, solutions can be used to make hazing less common, until it no longer exists. These solutions that may be able to put an eventual stop to hazing, in the long run, are better education about fraternity hazing, stricter laws to prevent hazing from occurring, and more intervention from college administrators.
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...Traditional hazing at colleges means for a new freshman or “pledges” to perform strenuous, humiliating, or dangerous tasks in order to be accepted into a sorority. At a California State university two young pledges were found dead due to drowning on a beach near Los Angeles. It was discovered that the pledges were blind folded and their hands were tied before entering the water. The two women were forced to do this after days of no sleep, and the women were also forced to do embarrassing and hard chores for the sorority members.
​Traditions aren’t only for college hazing’s, there are also traditions followed in cults. One unparticular would be The Solar temple which is a secret society based upon the modern myth of continuing existence of “the knights Templar. “ This cult was created by Joseph Di Mambro and Luc Jouret in 1984 in Geneva. In October 1994 one of the member’s infant son of 3 months was killed at the groups center in Morin Heights, Quebec. The baby had been The baby had been stabbed repeatedly with a wooden stake. It is believed that Di Mambro ordered the murder, because he identified the baby as the Anti-Christ described in the Bible. Di mambro also believed that the Anti-Christ was born to prevent Di Mambro from succeeding in his spiritual aim. A few days later mass murders and suicides were conducted. Shortly after these suicides and murders 15 inner circle members committed suicide with poison, 30 were killed by...

...﻿Hazing: The Right Form of Brotherhood?
Brotherhood, according to Merriam Webster dictionary, is the condition or quality of being brothers. It is an association of men, a fraternity or union, united for common purposes. But this brotherhood has its conditions. Members have to go through “hazing” which serves as a ritual which involves humiliating, abusing, and harassing as a way of initiating a person into the group. If brotherhood is what these groups are for, then why do hazings exist?
Last July 2014, Guillo Servando, an 18-year old Benilde sophomore died from hazing, and hazing has once again showed its ugly side and will continue to ravage lives if this ritual won’t stop. In year 2000s, there were more than 10 victims of hazing who died, and it’s such a devastating occurrence, because a good future’s waiting for these students, and until now, some of the other victims’ cases remain unsolved. They say that fraternity is for brotherhood. They become a family and brothers. How does hazing contribute to brotherhood? By owing your life to it? Isn’t the whole idea of hazing stupid and messed up? Actually, brothers should care for each other. They should provide each others’ needs without expecting anything in return. If this is the case, then it is not brotherhood. This is what you call “taking for granted”. Leaders of these unions take...

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...Incarceration: Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities
Frat boys and sorority girls, what do they do for society? They party all weekend, every weekend. None of them care about academics. They are elitist and snobby. They violate noise ordinances. They do not serve the community. They couldn’t possibly hold any value as individuals in our society, right? Wrong. Many people think of those who belong to the Greek system as the rich, preppy Caucasian students who get drunk and party on a day-to-day basis; these among other stereotypes have, in essence, erased even the thought of belonging to a sorority or fraternity from the minds of countless students. While in actuality, Greeks are the students who do the best in classes, the people who are always seen doing charity work, they have strict rules to follow on and off campus, and while they might be slightly selective with the people the associate with it’s only because they wouldn’t want to be involved in something dangerous or looked down upon. Because, while people may only see the bad in Greeks, they want to be the best person they could possibly be, which is in essence why they joined a sorority or fraternity. But of course, as with every stereotype, there is some truth to the ones against Greek life. Like social events and of course, the taboo of any college campus’ Greek Row, hazing. But, what is hazing? What does it entail? Who does it? What are the consequences? Are...

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Pledging, and Hazing, and Drinking, Oh My!
While some fraternities and sororities have moved away from the traditional “pledge” system, many still use it. A pledge is a new member that has not been initiated yet and goes through hazing, forced drinking, and public humiliation to prove their worth to their house. “A 19-year-old sophomore died in a fraternity house while participating in a hazing episode that included mock kidnapping, ritualized humiliation, and coerced drinking,” David J. Skorton wrote in his New York Times article. Because of this, many people believe all fraternities and sororities on campus should be shut down.
The article talks about different ways to deal with this problem. Cornell has brought in people from fraternities and sororities respective national headquarters to talk about the issue. Their Interfraternity Council and the Women’s Panhellenic Association, organizations that are made up of leaders of the Greek system and oversee issues that come up with the houses on campus, have held conferences with the Presidents of each house to come up with a solution. The last possible solution was to go to a system similar to the “Balanced Man Program” Sigma Phi Epsilon uses nationally. This system goes away from the traditional pledge system and as soon as a member signs their commitment to the house, they have just as much say as the President or any other member....